Better.com to go public through SPAC merger, valued at $7.7 billion

After massive fundraises fueled months of IPO speculation, Better.com announced today it will go public through a merger agreement.

The specialty purpose acquisition company Aurora Acquisition Corp. — formed by London-based private equity firm Novator Capital — will combine with the digital lender. Novator committed $200 million through a private investment in public equity. The deal should close some time in the fourth quarter, barring shareholder and regulatory approval.

Capital terms were not disclosed. However, the transaction gives Better.com an implied equity value of $6.9 billion and provides it with $778 million to aid expansion and a post-money equity value of $7.7 billion. Softbank, which invested $500 million in Better in April, will commit an additional $1.5 billion once the deal closes.

“This transaction provides investment capital to accelerate Better’s growth and support our mission to make homeownership simpler, faster, more affordable and more accessible for all Americans, and eventually everyone else,” Better founder and CEO Vishal Garg said in a press release.

Aurora’s chairman Thor Björgólfsson and its chief investment officer Prabhu Narasimhan both pointed to Better’s proven innovation and scalable technology model as value drivers for the investment. Better experienced exponential growth in 2020, producing $24.2 billion in loan volume, $7.7 billion in title insurance and $1.4 billion in homeowners insurance. Those represented annual gains of 490%, 855% and 300%, respectively, over 2019. That type of volume propelled 10 of Better’s loan officers into the top 20 highest-producing mortgage professionals of the past year.

Garg and the rest of Better’s leadership will remain with the company through the acquisition. Aurora CIO Prabhu Narasimhan will join Better’s board of directors as part of the deal.

Better is using Bank of America Securities as its financial advisor and Sullivan and Cromwell as legal counsel. Barclays will serve as Aurora’s financial advisor while a tandem of Baker McKenzie and Ropes & Gray will be its legal team.